Boys soccer

For 85 brisk, windy minutes, it was a good defensive struggle, sparked by the play of the respective sweepers for visiting C. Milton Wright and Dundalk.

Wright junior Andy Haynes ended it with striking suddenness when he delivered a shot into the far left corner of the net from 12 yards out on the right side halfway through the first overtime period.

The 1-0 victory lifted C. Milton Wright (9-4) into the Class 3A North regional final Tuesday against Harford County rival Bel Air, a 1-0 winner over Fallston last Thursday.

Dundalk, on the rebound from a 3-8 season, finished 8-4-1 under first-year coach Geoff Holland.

With the 15-25 mph wind at its back in the overtime, Wright spent much of the time in its offensive end. Senior Joe Kiss gave the Mustangs their first real shot of the extra session, drilling one off the crossbar that deflected back to an unguarded Haynes. He promptly made good on his opportunity.

The statistics reflected the windy conditions. Wright had seven shots in the first half, one in the second; Dundalk had one in the first and seven in the second. For the most part, though, it developed into a duel between sweepers Steve Milano for Wright and senior Rob Ray for Dundalk.

"I wanted to keep the ball on the ground, create situations by dribbling, and they left the middle open," Milano said of his work in advancing the ball.

"The one who really dominated them was Tommy Parr -- he's a sophomore back," Milano said. "He's been playing big in recent games, and for the year, nobody has beaten him but the guy from Curley [Guiliano Celenza]." Coach Paul Snyder cited Parr as one who really works hard and always marks the toughest player.

Milano also was complemented by the play of seniors Chris Miller and Ryan Nelson. Miller was sidelined when he caught an elbow in the nose, but returned to action soon after.

Senior Troy Franz, a husky 6 feet 3, provided some stellar play in front of Ray, a bulky 6-footer with an outstanding kicking foot. Ray was a goalkeeper in previous seasons -- and that is where his college future probably lies -- but was shifted to the field this season with the coming of sophomore Jayson Cox, an agile 6-3 sophomore.

With these two behind him, Franz was able to play up a lot, making some strong offensive runs and disrupting Wright's midfield play.

Joppatowne 1, Edgewood 0: Chris Kelleher scored two minutes into the game, and Joppatowne (5-8-1) dropped back into a defensive mode the rest of the way. Edgewood (7-5-2), which had a four-game winning streak halted, outshot the home team, 20-11. A long throw-in by Chris James set up the goal, as Heath Kiel sent the ball to the far post, where an unmarked Kelleher had an open shot. Jason Stone had 11 saves for Joppatowne and Ken Finlay five for Edgewood.